First announced in November 2018, Amazon Managed Blockchain is a fully managed service that simplifies creating and managing scalable blockchain networks.

Customers across finance, logistics, retail, energy and other sectors create blockchain networks using frameworks like Hyperledger Fabric and Ethereum. However, the process is difficult and time consuming with the need for each member of the network to provision hardware, install software, create and manage certificates for access control, and configure network settings.

Added to this is the need to scale the network – monitoring resources across all nodes, adding or removing hardware, and managing the availability of the entire network.

Amazon Managed Blockchain addresses these challenges and makes it easy and cost effective for customers to create and manage secure blockchain networks that can scale to support thousands of applications running millions of transactions.

With this service, customers can simply choose their preferred framework, add network members, and configure the member nodes that process transaction requests. Amazon Managed Blockchain creates a blockchain network that can span multiple AWS accounts and configure the software, security, and network settings.

“Customers want to use blockchain frameworks like Hyperledger Fabric and Ethereum to create blockchain networks so they can conduct business quickly, with an immutable record of transactions, but without the need for a centralized authority. However, they find these frameworks difficult to install, configure, and manage,” said Rahul Pathak, General Manager, Amazon Managed Blockchain at AWS.

“Amazon Managed Blockchain takes care of provisioning nodes, setting up the network, managing certificates and security, and scaling the network. Customers can now get a functioning blockchain network set up quickly and easily, so they can focus on application development instead of keeping a blockchain network up and running.”

In addition, Amazon Managed Blockchain provides simple APIs that allow customers to vote on memberships in their networks and to scale up or down more easily.

The service is already being used by a number of organizations including AT&T, Nestlé, TrackX, Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX), and the Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative (MOBI), among others.

According to the official release, Hyperledger Fabric is supported at launch with Ethereum support coming later this year. Amazon Managed Blockchain is available immediately in the US East (N. Virginia) and will expand to additional regions in the coming year.